Moto E3 Power V Moto G4 Play: Devil is in the details

This year, Lenovo has stressed a lot on, making the Moto E3 Power stand
out. Not so much from the competition, but from previous Moto Es.

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Saurabh Singh

New Delhi

September 20, 2016

UPDATED: September 20, 2016 19:03 IST

Lenovo launched the Moto E3 Power in India on Monday. The phone is a slightly upgraded version of the Moto E3, and therefore also carries a slightly higher price tag. The Moto E3 is still to be official in India. But, at this point of time, I am not even thinking about it. I am still in shock and awe. Shocked seeing the Moto E3 Power's near atrocious price - Rs 7,999 - which, in the present day, does not justify its underpowered spec-sheet. I am awed because, well, it brings back so many memories. As also highlighted in my review of the phone, "There's something about the Moto E3 Power's design, which sets it apart from the entire hullabaloo going around in the budget segment right now. It brings back memories when all-plastic phones and removable batteries were still the in-thing."

But really, there's only so much that nostalgia can do. The Moto E3 Power, when I powered it up and started using it, made me question its very existence. The original Moto E, which was launched two years ago, made so much more sense. The Moto E3 Power doesn't. Maybe, the Moto E3 Power would, should Lenovo launch it later, at a price of around say, Rs 6,000. The Moto E3 Power, at Rs 7,999, is overshadowed by the Xiaomi Redmi 3S Prime, in every sense of the word. Heck, it is overshadowed by the Moto G4 Play as well. The Moto G4 Play, recently launched in India, for Rs 8,999 is practically the same phone. The devil is in the details.

The similarities:

-- The Moto E3 Power and the Moto G4 Play are both, carbon copies of each other. They look the same, and also, they feel the same. They have all-plastic bodies and a chrome rim: the design is simple and utilitarian. The back panel, which is removable, has this very fine textured finish that gives the phones a sophisticated look, and improves grip. Also, both the phones have removable batteries.

--Both the Moto E3 Power and Moto G4 Play have a water-repellent nano-coating that protects the phones from accidental spills, splashes or light rain.

-- Both the phones have a 5-inch HD IPS LCD display with a 720x1280 pixel resolution that roughly translates to 294 ppi pixel density.

-- Both the phones run almost unmodified version of Android, in this case, Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

This year, Lenovo has stressed a lot on, making the Moto E3 Power stand out. Not so much from the competition, but from previous Moto Es. The Moto E3 Power, as a result, has a bigger and brighter display, more RAM, more megapixels in the camera department, a bigger battery and is also splash-proof

-- Both the phones have 2GB RAM and 16GB memory with support for expandable storage. They are dualSIM phones that support 4G LTE (VoLTE-ready) and USB OTG. The phones come with separate slots for two SIM cards and one microSD.

-- Both the phones come with an 8-megapixel camera on the rear with f/2.2 aperture, autofocus and LED flash. On the front you get a 5-megapixel snapper.

-- Both the phones come with front-firing mono speaker. Both include a fast charger in the box, which is rated to deliver up to 5 hours of power in just 15 minutes of charging, according to Lenovo.

-- The Moto E3 Power supports up to 32GB microSD cards. The Moto G4 Play, on the other hand, can be expanded by up to 128GB via microSD card.

-- The Moto G4 Play has a 2,800mAh battery while the Moto E3 Power is backed by a bigger 3,500mAh battery.

-- The Moto E3 Power's rear camera maxes out at 720p videos, while the Moto G4 Play's rear camera can record 1080p videos.

And now, the breakdown

Well, ideally, you should buy the Moto G4 Play. That is, if you're looking to buy a Moto phone. The phone costs Rs 1,000 more but the Snapdragon 410 makes so much more sense over MediaTek 6735. Not because, the MT6735 is a disaster, but because Lenovo, for some reason, has used a lower clocked version of the processor in the Moto E3 Power. The MT6735 isn't a powerhouse, but at least at 1.3GHz, for instance, it should perform visibly different or faster. The Coolpad Note 3 Lite is a classic example. The Note 3 Lite has the same processor, but it is clocked higher (@1.3GHz) and has more RAM (3GB). It works very well. The Meizu M2, again, has the same hardware as the Coolpad phone, and it works very well too.

For one, the Moto E3 Power comes with an under-clocked CPU. Secondly, it is priced higher than both the Coolpad Note 3 Lite and the Meizu M2 as well. Clearly, the Moto E3 Power is at a disadvantage.

The Snapdragon 410, meanwhile, is a tried and tested CPU, for Motorola phones. The company has been using it for as long as one can remember. And it has worked well for the company. Moto phones run an almost unmodified version of Android and when coupled with a fairly efficient processor like the Snapdragon 410 - remember it belongs to a time when Qualcomm chips were not prone to overheating - the combination is a win-win situation for budget buyers. To recall, even last year's Moto E (Gen 2 4G) came with the Snapdragon 410, and it worked just fine.

This year, Lenovo has stressed a lot on, making the Moto E3 Power stand out. Not so much from the competition, but from previous Moto Es. The Moto E3 Power, as a result, has a bigger and brighter display, more RAM, more megapixels in the camera department, a bigger battery and is also splash-proof. But, all this comes at the cost of smooth, lag-free performance. The Moto E3 Power isn't even half of what the original Moto E was, back in the day in this regard. It has certainly grown, but it hasn't grown as powerful as Lenovo would want you to believe that it has.

The Moto G4 Play -- even though it has a smaller battery -- makes more sense because it sticks to Moto's tried and tested formula. For everything else, there is the Xiaomi Redmi 3S Prime. There is also the Coolpad Note 3 Lite.

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